Maynard, MA, USA: Beacon-Villager newspaper column on local history, observations on nature and recreational activities, plus an occasional health-related article. Columns from 2009-11 collected into book "MAYNARD: History and Life Outdoors." Columns from 2012-14 collected into book "Hidden History of Maynard." - David A. Mark

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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Lafayette's 1824 Visit to Stow

“Lafayette,
we are here.” Thus ended a speech by Charles E. Stanton, Lieutenant Colonel on
the staff of General John J. Pershing. The event was a visit to Lafayette’s tomb, on July 4, 1917, just three months after
the United States has joined
the war against Germany
and its allies. The speech acknowledged France’s support for the American
Revolutionary War. In context: “America
has joined forces with the allied powers, and what we have of blood and
treasure are yours. Therefore it is that with loving pride we drape the colors
in tribute of respect to this citizen of your great republic. And here and now,
in the presence of the illustrious dead, we pledge our hearts and our honor in
carrying this war to a successful issue. Lafayette,
we are here!”

Stanton could say "Lafayette"
in the same way other political and military stars need only one name: Washington,
Lincoln, Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Mao. By his full name and title, Marie-Joseph
Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier (Marquis de Lafayette) was born in 1757 into a
noble French family with a LONG history of military service. Nearly 350 years
before his arrival in the at-war Colonies his ancestor Gilbert de Lafayette III
had been a companion-at-arms with Joan of Arc's army, fighting against English
invaders. And nearly 50 years after Lafayette
first arrived on our shores to fight in the Revolutionary War, he returned to
the United States and
visited, briefly, Stow, MA.

Lafayette
first arrived in 1777, age 19, as a volunteer, a French Army officer, but without
official approval from the French government. He swiftly became an aide to
General Washington, endured the winter at Valley Forge,
and was given command positions in the Continental Army. He was also an
essential liaison between the warring Americans and his home country, traveling
back to France
in 1779 and again in 1781 to beg for aid. The arrival of the French navy at Yorktown, Virginia,
coinciding with land attacks by the Continental Army, in part led by Lafayette
and Alexander Hamilton, led to the surrender of the British Army and the end of
the War. Lafayette returned to France where he
had a life-long involvement in French governments under the King, the
revolution, Bonaparte and the restoration of the monarchy.

President James Monroe and Congress invited Lafayette
to visit the United States
in 1824-25 celebrate the nation's upcoming 50th anniversary. Lafayette was 66 at the
time. His intended four month tour of the original 13 states became a thirteen
month, 6,000 mile tour of 24 states, traveling by horseback, carriage, canal
barge and steamboat. And this brings us to the point of our local interest. On
September 2, 1824, Lafayette and his entourage left Boston
via carriage to events scheduled in Lexington
and Concord. Lexington claimed it was
where the war started. A banner read “The birthplace of American liberty.” Concord counter-claimed
it was where the colonists first fired at the British. When Lafayette
visited NorthBridge
in Concord,
Judge Samuel Hoar told him that he was looking at the spot where “the first
forcible resistance was made.”

1824 portrait by Ary Scheffer

Interestingly, echoes of the Lexington/Concord feud sounded
down through the years. In 1894 the Lexington Historical Society petitioned the
Massachusetts State Legislature to
proclaim April 19 as "Lexington Day." Concord countered with “Concord Day.”
Governor Frederic Greenhalge opted for a compromise: "Patriots' Day." The
Boston Marathon, started to honor the holiday, dates to 1897 - one year after
the modern-era Olympics, including a marathon, was started, in Greece.

If Lafayette's coach traveled west from Concord, stopping at
Stow along the way, there is only one logical route for him to have taken -
Laws Brook Road to School Street to Parker Road to Concord Street to Summer
Street - and hence to Stow Lower Village.

From the written records it does not appear that Stow was a planned stop,
perhaps only a place to rest the horses and let the travelers stretch their
legs, but there ended up being a reception of sorts. According to Crowell’s
history of Stow (1933), Lafayette and his
entourage reached the Stow
common [next to Route 117 east of Shaw’s shopping plaza] after sunset and
stayed for almost an hour. They were met by a military company led by Captain
Pliny Wetherbee and feted at the Gardner Inn. The Honorable Rufus Hosmer
coordinated the event. There were refreshments, the Marquis received a bouquet
of flowers, and then departed into the darkness, miles to go before reaching
the residence of Sampson V.S. Wilder, in Bolton,
for a sumptuous feast and overnight stay. The house still stands, on Wilder Road.

Stow Minutemen Company, 2011 (Click on photo to enlarge)

The above-described route across Stow (parts which did not become Maynard until 1871), would have been the reverse of
much of the line of march of the Stow Minutemen on the morning of April 19,
1775, on their way to Concord.
The Stow Minutemen Company re-enacts the march every Patriot's Day. New
recruits welcome!

Lafayette
had become a Freemason early in his life. There is dispute whether this had
occurred before he left France,
or at Valley Forge, in December 1777, with General
George Washington present and acting as Master of the Lodge at the time of
initiation. Regardless, he remained an active Mason, and as such, was asked to
place the cornerstone of many monuments, including Bunker
Hill, on the 50th anniversary of that 1775 battle. From one
description, "Lafayette became so
emotionally connected to the United States
that he took dirt from the excavation of the Bunker
HillMonument in Massachusetts and shipped it to France so he could be buried in
American soil."